Wisconsin student pleads not guilty in sex assault case

MADISON — A suspended University of Wisconsin-Madison student accused of sexually assaulting and harassing nearly a dozen women has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges.

Alec Cook

Twenty-year-old Alec Cook faces a total of 21 counts, including strangulation, sexual assault, stalking and false imprisonment involving 10 women dating back to March 2015. Five of the charges are misdemeanors. The rest are felonies.

His attorneys have argued some of the alleged assaults didn't happen, other sexual encounters were consensual and the harassment and stalking allegations are exaggerated.

Cook, of Edina, Minnesota, pleaded not guilty to each count during an arraignment in Dane County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon. The proceeding lasted only a few minutes.

Cook remains free on $100,000 bail.